Quick Concrete

[Burt Alcantara]

We're redoing a gate. First post we tacked to the adjacent post of our neighbors. Dumped the dry mix in the hole and filled it with water. The package says "until saturation." Not knowing what that really means, we kept adding water until it looked like mud. Now, about 12 hours later, the concrete is still not hard. I poked it with a small stick and a piece came off.

Is this normal? We have to set another post today. This one will be free standing. I'm open to ideas about how to keep this post stable while the concrete hardens.

At what point can I start building the gate without concerns that the posts will come loose?

Any tips about using this stuff is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Burt

[Nate Carey]

Burt, this is a product I use often...
http://www.sakrete.com/downloads/products/Sakrete_FencePostConcrete_Datasheet.pdf
...works good without fail. I usually pre-mix in a wheelbarrow then fill hole. What was the product you used?

[Burt Alcantara]

Nate,
I used whatever quick stuff they had at Home Depot. There wasn't a choice. This one or none.

[Prashun Patel]

It's probably too wet. Give it more time; it should set up fine.

Next time, I'd mix it outside of the hole. Like grout and mortar, you want it just wet enough to make it workable. I prefer to mix outside of the hole because then you can insure consistency and that all parts of the 'crete are properly activated with water.

[Gene Howe]

To stabilize the post in the hole nail 1 long board close to the top of the post and another at a 90 from the first. Where the non nailed ends meet the ground when the post is plumb, drive a stake. Nail the boards to the stakes.

Add to the reccomendations above: Throw some (an inch or two deep) pea gravel in the hole before setting the post. Drains the cement better and also allows surface water to drain away better from the bottom of the post. Preserves the post a little bit.

[David G Baker]

I put the post in the hole, pour in the Quickcrete, make sure it is squared and leave it. I never add water. There is a lot of sand on my property and the ground is not very moist but I have dug up posts that I set this way and the concrete is solid as a rock. I use the post setting stuff from HD.

[Scott T Smith]

Water required to cure a concrete mix is based upon the amount of cement in the mix. Use 6 gallons of less of water per bag of cement. For your bag of redimix, that's probably 1 - 2 gallons of water per bag of redi-mix.

If you want to speed up the cure time for a concrete mix, simply add some additional cement to the blend.

For instance, if you have 5 bags of redy-mix, buy an additional bag of Portland cement and mix 1/5th of it into each bag.

The cement will speed up the curing time, as well as significantly increase the strength of the concrete.

[Scott Shepherd]

On the pour in the hole and add water type like you described, just flood the top until it's really soaked and let it settle down. Don't add more water.

That stuff works well, I use it all the time for sign installations. Probably less water is better. I usually just leave an inch or two below ground, then I pour water on it slowly, let it fill to the ground level with water, then leave it alone.

[Jamie Delker]

I put the post in the hole, pour in the Quickcrete, make sure it is squared and leave it. I never add water. There is a lot of sand on my property and the ground is not very moist but I have dug up posts that I set this way and the concrete is solid as a rock. I use the post setting stuff from HD.

I've done that as well. Well, it wasn't my idea, but I helped. His porch is still standing 15 years later and looks level.

[David G Baker]

Jamie,
I have been doing it for 30 years or more and it has not failed me yet. The moisture in the soil migrates into the concrete with just enough moisture to set the concrete. The strongest concrete is made with the least amount of moisture. If the sand in my soil has dried to the level that it has become sugar sand I will wet the sand prior to dumping in the dry mix. In order to remove sugar sand with a post hole digger I have to moisten the sand or it will not stay in the digger and this moisture is enough to set the concrete.

[Dave Lehnert]

I put the post in the hole, pour in the Quickcrete, make sure it is squared and leave it. I never add water. There is a lot of sand on my property and the ground is not very moist but I have dug up posts that I set this way and the concrete is solid as a rock. I use the post setting stuff from HD.

What David said.

I never ever add water. Dig hole, drop in post, Pour in mix dry.

Sets hard as a rock. Never a problem.

[Colin Giersberg]

As David said the less water, the better. Concrete has a minimum amount needed to make it workable, but as more water is added, the concrete becomes weaker, until the point that you wasted your money on it. If you have ever seen the TV show about building the Autobahn in Germany, the concrete was pounded into place. This was necessary due to the minimal water used, and that is one of the reasons why the Autobahn is still one of the strongest roads in the world.
My job requires me to get re-certified every 5 years (i think that is every 3 years now) on how to mix concrete, even though I have never designed concrete mixes in my life. I am required to take quality control samples and perform some basic tests on it, but that is all, and I haven't had to deal with this at work for the last 6 years.

Regards, Colin

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

12 hours later, the concrete is still not hard. I poked it with a small stick and a piece came off.

Is this normal?

Don't add water till it looks like mud. You want merely to observe moistness.
Think of a particularly dry but moist mix. No liquid water no how. You can see it's dark with moisture but, you couldn't wring water out of it. That's about the right water content.

Chances are the Mud-Crete will harden up just fine for this application.

[Fred Belknap]

wait about a week and it will be plenty strong for a post. Concrete reaches about 90% of strength in the first seven days, full cure in 28 days.

[Walter Plummer]

If anyone doubts the don`t add water method just leave an unopened bag on the ground for a week or so. ;)

[David G Baker]

If you have a reoccurring flooding problem, pile some of those HD Quickcrete as a barrier to the water. They harden quick and are better than sand bags for the long haul.